April 16, 1998
Bombay Update
Dear Mom and Dad,
Our new servant is working out very well. Her name is Patsy and she is only a few inches taller than Katie. We have employed her for three weeks now and are starting to get over the uncomfortable stage. Nita is growing into her role as the boss/ home manager. Thankfully, she’s also taking a little more active role in cooking. Patsy is a good cook, but her style is not completely to Nita and the kid’s liking. She only worked for Indians before, whereas Muthiah worked for other Americans in the past and had learned to cook more for American tastes. The differences? Indian cooking tends to be very oily. Also the types and combinations of spices Indians use are very different from what we’re familiar with on a day-to-day basis. So Nita puts together menus and also specifies how certain things are to be prepared. Frankly, Patsy is much happier that way. She wants to be told what to do and she also wants to please us. All she asks is that we treat her with respect and kindness (a former employer did not), which we do. Patsy is very sweet and pleasant and clean (not a given among domestics, here). We think it is going to work out just fine.
Another change is that Muthiah worked all day Saturday, but Patsy cooks for the week‑end on Saturday morning then leaves. We are going to let her leave Friday night so we can really cook for ourselves on the week‑end. I am coming to think there are so many different things to experience here, we should put a little more emphasis on the familiar when we’re in our apartment. For example, Nita made some French bread this past week‑end. It was a real taste of home. Also we are getting back into the pancake routine (I make pancakes for breakfast every Saturday). And besides, Patsy has a 5 year old daughter and a husband, so we are happy to give her more time with them. She feels slightly guilty when she leaves early. Yesterday we were invited out for supper, so Nita told Patsy she could go home to see how her daughter, who had been a little sick, was doing. Before she left, Patsy asked Anita if it was o.k. with “sir” ‑‑what she calls me‑‑‑ if she left early even though Nita had said she could. I think Patsy sees me as the ultimate lord of the manor and wanted to make sure I assented.
All of our belongings have arrived except the car. We can’t wait for that to get here. We are familiar enough with at least our side of town that we want to get around a little easier and more comfortably than in taxis or sharing a car with a colleague. Everything arrived in good shape, though we had a couple of disappointing but hopefully not unfixable breakages since we arrived. For example, our Macintosh printer stopped working. Oddly, the boys used it for a few days before we were unpacked, setting it up temporarily in the living room. Then Aaron, who is careful with this sort of thing, moved it to our bedroom where our computer desk is and from then on, it did not work. The tech people at my office determined the plug was burned out but the printer itself was o.k. We will be able to get a new one. Electricity is another thing we have to get used to. The outlets are 220‑240 volts. For us to use our own things, we need a transformer to reduce the voltage to 110. My employer provided a few, we own one, and we are trying to round up a few more. We bought a medium-sized one in D.C. for $65.00 that could handle up to 500 watt appliances. We attempted to use it with our own microwave (5,000 watts!) and needless to say we burned it up. Thankfully, India is a great place for repairs, including technical ones (Aaron even had his portable C.D. player fixed), and we were able to get the transformer fixed for 200 rupees ($5.00).
We have been dealing with a little sickness. Eric was ill over this past week‑end with an upper respiratory infection that gave him headaches and dizziness. Katie has had tonsillitis. Aaron has had a combination of ongoing gastrointestinal ailments. We take him to a doctor tomorrow. We are trying very hard to get healthy. Even I (Iron Dad) have a cold, though our doctor says it’s very typical for newcomers here to get sick for a while before getting used to the local germs. I think similar things happen to Indians who move to the U.S.
We recently sent a letter via regular mail describing some of our activities. We fill the evenings after eating supper with homework, watching a movie, or playing a game (we are learning Mah Johng), or reading and being read to. We have also started taking more walks. There is a park close to us where many local residents take their evening constitutionals. How colorful with all the bright saris and salwar chemises worn by the ladies and generally lighter colors by the men. On a running track , a walking path, and several sidewalks there must be 500 or more people at any one time. We do get looked at a lot and maybe I’ve said this before, but next to all the lovely shades of brownish (many Indians describe their color as wheatish) my pasty, whiteish, pinkish, pale skin looks positively anemic! Of course Nita gets more looks than me, a lovely whiteish, pinkish lady next to paunchy, balding me. But the champion of head turners is Katie. Maybe it’s her redder hair, or her even paler skin, or just her natural cute good looks. But I think people recognize us as locals. Maybe we are starting to fit in a little.
